Abstract: On August 5, 2012, NASA's Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity landed in northwest Gale Crater. With the most sophisticated suite of scientific instruments ever employed to investigate the Martian surface housed within a mini-Cooper-sized rover, Curiosity has been assessing the character of the ancient environments based on examination of clues contained within rocks. In this presentation, Williams will discuss why Gale Crater was selected as the landing site, the ingenious 'sky-crane' landing system developed for this mission, how the science team participates in daily operations from their home institutions, and science results after one year of surface activities.